The Medici

She led “a life that really, in many ways, shouldn't have been possible”. So says historian Paul Gillingham of Juana Inés de la Cruz. This 17th-century polymath and nun challenged a host of social conventions – earning, through her extraordinary books and poems, a place in the pa ...  Show more

While the crusades raged across the Holy Land in the southern Levant, the kingdoms of central and northern Europe were engaged in their own battle to extend Christendom. Speaking to James Osborne, Aleks Pluskowski details how and when the Baltic crusades – or Northern crusades – ...  Show more

The story of Prometheus comes alive in all of its god-defying, fire-stealing glory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

Famed lady pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read are often requested as a topic by listeners. But telling their story requires navigating some rather suspect historical accounts.

Power, greed, religion and sex: historian Dan Jones brings the drama of mediaeval history alivethrough compelling stories, larger-than-life characters and vivid scenes. The third season tells the incredible story of England’s most diabolical ruler. King John makes enemies whereve ...  Show more

Our focus today is on a woman who was actually covered in the podcast several years ago. But she's a figure so mythic and with so many variations to her story that we wanted to give her another look and a little more time.